Chocolate Halloween Cupcakes

The recipe for these cupcakes comes from Phil Vickery’s cookbook ‘Gluten-Free Baking’. He makes one large cake with this dough, but I fancied making cupcakes for a Halloween party, and decided it would probably work. And it did. The cupcakes were deliciously moist and rich, and I could quite happily have eaten them all.

Makes 12 cupcakes

225g flour (I used Doves Farm gluten free white bread flour)

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

50g cocoa powder

100g butter

250g dark muscovado sugar

3 medium sized eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon heather honey

200ml full fat milk

Pre-heat the oven to 180^OC.

Sieve the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and cocoa powder together.

Use a food processor to cream the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy. This may take some time, so don’t give up just because it doesn’t do anything straight away. Gradually beat in one egg at a time, and then add the vanilla and honey.

Reduce the speed on the food processor, and then gradually add the flour mix and milk alternately.

Spoon the mixture into cupcake cases that are placed in muffin trays. Bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes until they are raised and a skewer comes out clean. 

Orange Salad

Visiting my parents is always great, as I not only do I get my all-time favourite foods, but I also get ideas for new things I can try out at home.  This orange dessert was served after dinner tonight, when I thought my tummy was full to bursting point. However, it turned out that there was room in it after all, and I felt better for having finished the meal with some fruit. And I'm sure it counts towards your five a day too.

Serves 4

3 oranges
a handful of chopped almonds
250ml water
125g sugar
2 star anise

Make a sugar syrup by bringing water, sugar and star anise to the boil. After boiling it until the sugar is dissolved, remove the star anisefrom the syrup. Leave it to cool down completely.

Peel the oranges, making sure to remove the pith. Finely slice the oranges so that a piece of each segment is in each slice.
Put the oranges in a serving bowl and pour the sugar syrup over.
Finally drizzle the chopped almonds on top.

This very simple but delicious dessert can be served with whipped cream.

Bean and Cream Cheese Pâté

This is such an easy thing to make, and takes no time at all. It goes well with bread and crackers, and can be a perfect addition to an English breakfast.

1 garlic clove

180g borlotti beans (1 x 300g tin)

60g cream cheese

1 tablespoon fresh parsley

a pinch each of sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and cayenne pepper

Place all ingredients in a food processor and whizz until you have a smooth paste. Place in an airtight container and store in the fridge if you are not eating it right away. 

Courgette and Wensleydale Cheese with Cranberries Cupcakes

I was inspired to make these after reading Kate Shirazi’s ‘cupcake magic’. It was a cold, rainy and windy day, so my plans to go outside were quickly put away. I was at a bit of a loss for what to do, since I hadn’t really planned for staying at home in gloomy weather. After pottering about for a while, feeling bored, I randomly picked up Kate Shirazi’s cookbook, and decided some cupcakes might make me feel better. So I turned up the music, and headed for the kitchen.

Makes 12 large or 18 smaller cupcakes

200g flour (I used Dove’s Farm Plain White flour blend)

1 teaspoon xantham gum

3 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon herbal salt (or ordinary sea salt)

150g courgette

150g wensleydale cheese with cranberries (or any other semi-firm cheese with fruit)

60ml whole milk

2 large eggs

110g butter

Pre-heat your oven to 200^OC.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, xantham gum, baking powder, sugar and salt.

In another bowl, grate your courgette, and add the cheese. The cheese should first be chopped into small cubes. Add the milk and eggs, and stir. Melt the butter and add to the mixture. Give the whole mixture a little whisk, and pour it into the dry ingredients. With a spoon, carefully fold the mixture together into a firm batter. You don’t want to stir the flour too much, as gluten free flour tends to go a bit rubbery if worked too hard.

Place cupcake cases into a 12-hole muffin tin and use two spoons to spoon the batter into the cases. Depending on how large cupcakes you would like, you’ll get 12 or maybe even 18 cupcakes from this mix. Place the tin in the middle of the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the cupcakes are firm to the touch and golden brown. 

Galia Melon Curry with Beans and Cheese

This dish met with mixed reviews when I served it the other day. I rather liked it, but my friend was not quite convinced. It was inspired by a recipe I found in ‘the modern vegetarian’ by Maria Elia. Unfortunately I didn’t have the majority of the ingredients she suggested, so I made my own variation instead. While being a bit spicy, it is at the same time made milder by the fruitiness of the melon. The curry was very quick and easy to make, and was a bit different from most other curries that I've made before.

Serves 2

1 medium shallot

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 garlic cloves

½ red chilli, deseeded

50g asparagus

50g sugar snap peas

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground ginger

a pinch of cayenne pepper

1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

500g galia melon

150g broadbeans

125g mozzarella cheese

freshly ground salt and pepper to taste

Serve with 150g long grain rice, cooked according to the instructions on the packet

Warm the olive oil in a wide pan, and finely chop the shallot. Add the shallot to the oil and sweat it until it is soft and golden. Finely chop the garlic and add to the shallot. Deseed and finally chop the chilli, or keep the seeds if you fancy something a bit hotter. Add it to the onions, and then slice the asparagus plus sugar snap peas into 1.5cm long bits. Add them to the pan. Measure out the spices and add to the pan. Stir well and leave on medium heat for a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes and leave to simmer for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are cooked.

Whizz half of the melon in an electric mixer until smooth, and add to the pan. Chop the other half of the melon into 1.5cm cubes and also add to the pan. Add the broad beans and leave until all ingredients are warmed through.

Finally tear or chop the mozzarella into chunks and add to the curry. You want to do this immediately before serving, so that it doesn’t melt too much. 

Foraging for Berries and Fruit

Autumn is the perfect time for foraging, as there are so many varieties ripe at the same time. Depending on where you live, there may be something on offer just round the corner. However, some times you need to go a bit further afield to hunt for your treasure.

Maybe you find something on your weekly walk, or maybe you plan a trip out especially for foraging, but either way you’ll need a container of sorts, to carry the spoils of the hunt back home. I, personally, prefer plastic bags. Either small ones, or sturdy carrier bags. They’re easy to carry, so even if you don’t find anything , you won’t have carried lots of containers for nothing. But if you are hunting squidgy berries you may be better off with a plastic box.

I went out in search of damsons the other day, and was very lucky to find a few. The best time for them is mid-September, so I was a little late and there wasn’t much on offer, but I found just enough to make a glass of jam. Berries are usually ripe a little earlier in the UK, around the start of September.

As always when picking wild food, be careful to only pick things you know are edible. Also, keep to land that you can legally access. I don’t want to be patronising or too preaching, but please leave nature as you found it. Don’t strip a bush or tree completely, there are small creatures that depend on the food you are picking. And don’t destroy living plants just to get to that apple just over there. Please. 

Butternut Squash Tagine with Buttered Chilli Amaranth

This dish is based on a recipe taken from ‘the modern vegetarian’ by Maria Elia. As usual I didn’t manage to stay within the confines of someone else’s directions, but it still seemed to work. I used amaranth instead of couscous, to make it gluten free. The texture is a bit different, but the taste is just as good, I think. 

Just like me, you can experiment with different vegetables that take your fancy, or you can follow my guidelines – it’s up to you. I added some greens because I felt I could do with the extra vitamins that day, and also I had some of them hanging about in the fridge, and they could do with using up. You can use any type of honey, but heather honey gives a rich indulgent taste.

Serves 2

300g butternut squash

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion

2 garlic cloves

a pinch of sea salt

a pinch of saffron strands

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 tin of tomatoes (400g)

1 green chilli

½ cinnamon stick

2 teaspoons heather honey

250ml water

80g sugar-snap peas

70g green beans

a pinch of freshly ground black pepper

100g amaranth

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons fresh chopped coriander

1 teaspoon chopped red chilli

zest of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons chopped almonds

chopped fresh coriander for garnish

Peel the butternut squash using a potato peeler. You do not want to use the seeds, so make sure your 300g are flesh only. Chop it into 1.5 cm cubes, and put to one side. Finely chop the onion and garlic.

Warm the olive oil in a pan, and add the onion and garlic. Sweat these until the onion is soft, making sure not to burn the garlic. Add all the spices and cook for 2 – 3 minutes to let the tastes mix with the onion. Add the tinned tomatoes. If they were whole, chop them before adding to the pan.

Finely chop the chilli. I took the seeds out, but leave them in if you like it hot. Add the chilli to the pan, and also add the cinnamon stick and honey. Add the squash and water, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Chop the sugar-snap peas and green beans, and taste to with black pepper. Simmer for a further 10 minutes until the greens are soft but not overcooked.

To make the Buttered Chilli Amaranth, bring some water to the boil (at the same time as you start preparing the tagine above), and place the amaranth in the boiling water. Cook for 25 to 30 minutes and drain well. Add the butter, coriander and chilli and stir well. Grate the zest of a lemon into the amaranth, taking care not to grate any of the white pith as this is very bitter.

Serve tagine and amaranth and scatter some chopped almonds and fresh coriander over.